First up let's make the sponge; preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C/Gas Mark 4. Grab 3 x 7” round cake tins and grease and line them, now we’re ready to bake!

First thing; mix your coffee with 100ml boiling water in a small bowl and set aside to cool. Pop all your dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre and add the oil, Vanilla Extract, eggs, buttermilk and coffee mixture and whisk together until thoroughly mixed, your mixture will be quite runny.   

Divide your chocolatey mixture equally between your prepared tins and pop in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes. To make sure your cakes are baked pop a skewer into the centre of the sponge and it should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then remove, and pop onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Pop your butter in a large bowl and beat until smooth and glossy, we recommend using an electric hand whisk or free standing mixer with a beater attachment to make the buttercream.

Add your icing sugar to your softened butter in 3 additions making sure it is fully mixed in after each addition – this helps stop the icing sugar covering your kitchen! Mix through the Vanilla Extract, if your buttercream feels too firm add 1-2 tsp of milk to help loosen it and then beat on a high speed until you have a lovely light fluffy buttercream. 

Chop 4 crème eggs into small pieces, then pop into the buttercream and beat together. 

Once your cakes are cooled use a serrated knife to carefully remove any domed tops on your cakes so they are level. Pop one sponge layer onto your serving plate or cake board and add a dollop of buttercream. Smooth out the buttercream to evenly cover the sponge and top with the next sponge. Continue stacking your cake until all 3 sponge layers are sandwiched together. Pop the remaining buttercream onto the top of the cake and smooth to cover. 

Now it’s time to decorate your wonderful cake! Lay your crème eggs out on a lined tray and spray or brush over a light covering of gold lustre and leave to set. 

Whilst your crème eggs are drying, break up the Milk Chocolate into pieces and pop into a microwaveable bowl. Melt in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stir and continue to melt in 10 second bursts stirring between each burst until smooth and completely melted. 

Repeat the above to melt your white chocolate. Once melted divide equally into 2 bowls and add a couple of drops of Orange Colour Gel to one bowl and mix through to create a pale orange colour chocolate – if the chocolate is a bit thick mix through ½ tsp of vegetable oil.

Using a teaspoon take one bowl of melted chocolate at a time and drizzle over the top of the cake and allow a few drips to fall down the side of cake. 

Once your crème eggs have dried, take the large crème eggs and cut in half and pop on top of your cake around the edge and allow the fondant in the middle of the eggs to ooze out onto your cake. Dot the mini crème eggs around the top of your cake. Your amazing crème egg cake is now ready to dive into, we’re sure it won’t last for long!